


Smoke and honey

by bioplast_hero



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beast King GoLion - Freeform, Comic-Con, Fake Relationship, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Phone Sex, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Plot Devices, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Ship Wars, Shipping, adult chatrooms, voice actor au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-01 09:35:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20812955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bioplast_hero/pseuds/bioplast_hero
Summary: Shiro and Keith were voice actors together. Pining Shiro ends up having anonymous phone sex with a man who, impossibly, gets Keith’s character voice just right. He’s hooked.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a headcanon I posted on [tumblr](https://bioplast-hero.tumblr.com/post/188006616170/how-about-shiro-and-keith-were-voice-actors), but it kept me up at night so I had to write it.

+++

Shiro spent years barely making it as a voice actor. When he landed a lead role for a popular American adaptation of an anime, it not only made his career but earned him some of the very best friends he’s ever had. When it’s all over, he has one regret: that he never confessed his feelings for his breathtaking costar, Keith.

It's been a year since the final episodes aired, and though the whole crew still stays in touch, Shiro misses the way he and Keith had become especially close in those years in the studio. He let the moment pass him by, and now he has no idea what to do with these feelings that seem to only ache more with time.

Not only does Shiro secretly ship their characters together (nbd, Akira/Takashi was one of the most popular pairings for the show, after all), but he spent those years falling for Keith, and has spent the last year pining for the man. Even now, he rewatches the old episodes and the rasp of Keith's voice undoes him. It's the stuff of his deepest, darkest fantasies.

Until he sees an ad for an adult fantasy voice chat service geared toward nerdy ships. There’s even a channel for Beast King GoLion! Now, maybe _ that _ is his deepest, darkest fantasy. Voicing a passionate scene with Akira would have him whiting out in no time. Even better if there’s someone who can work the smoke and honey tone of his former costar’s voice passably well. It’ll never be the real thing, but maybe if he can just scratch that itch, it'll get easier to let him go.

Feeling shady but also curious, Shiro signs on as ** _Takashi_tonight_**_,_ swearing he’ll take this shameful moment to his grave. He posts that he’s looking for Akira, that he has a message only for him. He just wants to live out the fantasy for a few minutes. And who knows: maybe the phone sex will be a decent distraction, something to _ do _ rather than moping alone.

It takes a while for someone to bite, but eventually _ **akiraLovesYouBaby** _ invites him to a private voice chat.

Shiro’s not at all prepared for the voice that meets him on the line. It IS Akira. It’s perfect, and impossible. And all the feelings he’s worked so hard to bury come rushing to the surface. He’s sure he’s never come so hard in his life, his chest aching with a lot more than desire. The emotion in his voice, it’s unbelievable.

Who is this guy? Shiro is hooked. And how many times will he have to log into this service, his shameful secret, just for the chance of finding him again?

+

It takes weeks for Shiro to find Akira online again, not to mention upgrading to a premium account to be able to message directly. By the time he does find the name he’s looking for, he’s ravenous for it.

Shiro fires off the invitation so fast he’s breathless. Instead of just accepting the invite, Akira types a chatroom reply. Did he come on too strong? Shiro’s stomach clenches anxiously while those three dots cycle endlessly before his eyes, trying to not read into it too much.

. . .

** _akiraLovesYouBaby: _ ** anxious to see me

** _Takashi_tonight: _ ** Yes! I was hoping I would find you again

** _akiraLovesYouBaby:_ ** were you

Shiro’s stomach is in knots. He wants to hear it in his voice, that sultry tone, just shy of mocking. He has to remind himself to get in character before he asks for this anonymous man’s real-life number and makes it weird.

_**Takashi_tonight:**_ Definitely

**_akiraLovesYouBaby:_ ** huh k I like that

**_Takashi_tonight:_ ** Another scene?

**_akiraLovesYouBaby:_ ** yeah I was thinking established relationship, if that’s cool

Shiro’s breath catches in his throat. He had definitely shipped Akira/Takashi as a long-term couple, not just in it for those heart-fluttering, first-time moments. But having the thought placed in his mind like this, he can’t help the way his heart leaped to how much he would treasure being with Keith for the long haul. Waking up together, swooning over his gorgeous boyfriend’s raven mop of impossible bedhead hair. Bringing him coffee in bed. Undressing him, night after night, still in awe of having the privilege. He shakes his head to clear it.

**_Takashi_tonight:_ ** Great

_**Takashi_tonight:**_ Any particular details?

**_akiraLovesYouBaby:_ ** you can follow my lead

Shiro’s head spins. He holds his breath and presses the call button, hooking his earpiece into his ear.

_ “Hi babe,” _ Akira purrs over the line in a sleepy-sounding voice, sending a shiver down Shiro’s spine. _ “What time is it there?” _

_Babe._

Hell.

This man is going to be his undoing.

Shiro’s heart is pounding, his mind racing for the words he should say, his mind stuck on just one thing. “I just had to hear your voice,” Shiro murmurs with more feeling than he probably should. It’s true, somehow, even if all this is supposed to be fake. He knows he really means it and his chest aches. “Sorry baby, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Akira purrs again, his voice liquid heat trailing over Shiro’s skin. _ “Well aren’t you sweet tonight. I’ve been missing you, too.” _ Then he makes a squeak like he’s stretching, and Shiro can picture him, long and lithe beneath a thin sheet in the half dark, his eyes hooded. Want settles in hard behind his navel. He realizes he’s picturing Keith, not his character, and he’s very nearly beyond caring. He just wants to dream, just for a little while.

“How long again before you come back to me?” Shiro tries to put a smile in his voice but it comes out as more of a pout. Leaving his desk chair, he stretches out on his bedspread, t-shirt and boxers bunching as he twists onto his pillow.

_ “Just one more movement,” _ Akira says, his tone teasing before it shifts, becoming more serious. _ “Remember, though, I’ll be radio silent after tonight. I’ll comm as soon as the mission’s over.” _

“That’s why I had to reach you tonight, you know,” Shiro says softly, trailing his own hand down his chest, wishing for the other man’s hand instead.

_ “And what are you gonna do with me now that you have me, Ashi?” _ The nickname makes his pulse quicken even more than the coy smile he can hear in Akira’s voice. It’s so easy, like this, to know what he wants.

“Want you in my arms, baby,” he says breathily. “Want you under me.”

A gush of hot breath, so soft he almost doesn’t hear it. It’s intoxicating. Inhale, shaky exhale. _ “I’m yours, you know. I’m naked for you.” _

Shiro’s breath stops in his lungs. “Are you really?”

The man with Akira’s voice sighs and it’s almost like a laugh. Self-deprecating, honest. _ “Really,” _ he rasps, and it punches a moan from Shiro’s lungs.

He’s really naked. And that shouldn’t be surprising, being a phone sex hub and all, but the realness of it shakes him. Shiro can't push down the image of the man he so desperately wants to be behind that voice. He stops trying.

The man whines softly, eager, impatient. _ “Tell me, Ashi. I need to hear it.” _

“Fuck,” Shiro breathes. “I’m on you, straddling your hips, chasing your tongue. You always taste so good,” he pants as he imagines holding Keith captive beneath him, licking into his mouth until they’re both lightheaded and breathless. “I’m pressing your wrists into the sheets overhead.”

The moan he gets for that jettisons his soul from his body. It’s a molten, sinful sound and Shiro will never forget it for the rest of his life. He drops his own shirt and boxers to the floor.

“You like that?” Shiro coos.

_ “Fuck, yes. Ashi- just like that. You always know how to drive me wild.” _

Shiro gets an idea then. A delicious idea. “Are you touching yourself, baby?”

A whine. _ “Yes.” _

Shiro imagines Keith stroking himself slowly with his eyes closed, concentrating, and smiles devilishly. “I want you to stop.”

_ “Wh- what?” _ It comes out as a kind of indignant squawk.

“I want you to wait for me,” Shiro says in a low voice, teasing and warning at once. He rolls onto his stomach on the bed, thrilling at the way his cock slides against the smooth sheet. "I’ve got your wrists. If you need more friction, just ask me to help you, baby,” he grits out, his jaw tense with need. He grinds down as though illustrating his point, if only to himself. “I’ll always give you what you need.”

Silence.

Oh no. No no no no, did he take it too far? He doesn’t want to mess this up. Hell, he never wants this to end.

Then he hears movement just as a needy whimper pierces the air, and it sounds so hot and broken and _ good _ that Shiro tells himself everything’s alright after all. He tries to breathe.

_ “Fuck, you’re trying to kill me, sweetheart,” _ the man groans out. Well, at least it’s mutual.

“Just let me take care of you, baby,” Shiro pants as he grinds his hips down. “Fuck, your cock feels so good against mine.”

A guttural growl. _ “I can’t feel you, Takashi. I- I need you.” _

Shiro grins. “Just ask for help, dear. I'm right here.”

This time the silence is so good, Shiro just holds his breath until he hears the man’s raged inbreath. _ “P- please, Ashi. I’m desperate. You know I am.” _

Shiro sees stars.

Shiro’s on top of the world, high from the thrill of controlling his lover’s pleasure. High from picturing Keith’s face, the crinkle he imagines at the corner of Keith’s eyes as he gives in to begging. Hell, he wants to see that. The head rush hasn’t worn off, but Shiro manages to string a few thoughts together to answer Keith's desperate ask.

“Grab a pillow, baby. No hands. On your stomach, now,” and a smile splits his face as he hears the man adjust his position on the other end of the line. "Just like that," Shiro murmurs as though he’s nipping at the back of Keith’s neck, the man he wants to be holding under him more than anyone in the world. There’s a muffled gasp at his ear that sends sparks through Shiro’s nerves.

“Don’t worry, I’ll guide you,” Shiro pants rhythmically as he rocks his hips down against the bed, his breath hitching again as he hears the man moan like he’s lost his way. He hears him move, picking up the rhythm. A few strokes and he's whimpering. 

“Fuck, the sounds you make when I have you like this- you’re making me leak, baby,” he praises. “Your cheeks are slick from my cock. Imma fuck you so good," he promises.

_ "Oh please yes," _ he moans, that voice shredding Shiro's sanity. _ "Need you in me." _

"Gotta finger yourself open for me first, love," he suggests. _Love._ The endearment falls from his mouth like a prayer, as easy as breathing. The characters provide decent cover up to this point, and god he's glad for it. And the tremble in the man's voice is reward enough, even before he hears a sound that he thinks is a squirt of lube. 

"That's it, baby. Let me see you open for me. You look so goddamn good on your knees like this."

There's a heavy breath. Another. Then a moan that frays his nerves almost beyond saving. Shiro has to stop rutting his hips just to keep from coming before he's ready. He listens to the man breathe harshly over the line and when he's calm enough he lets himself picture how he must be reaching around to finger himself while he's on his knees.

_ "Ready," _ the man squeaks out moments later.

"You ready for me already?"

_ "Fuck, fuck yes, I'm so ready for your cock," _ the man whimpers. _ "I'm yours, Takashi. Take me, please!" _

"Mine," he murmurs, before he groans imagining the slick slide into Keith's asshole, his voice so needy and wrecked. He imagines his thumb stroking the curve of Keith's ass as he holds himself poised in the air for Shiro to take. Such a beautiful sight, god, it'd be a shame to never see it. But at least he can hear it. 

"So tight, baby. Always so tight on my cock," he pants as he continues to thrust his hips into the pillow that is now guest starring as Keith's perky ass. It wouldn't be a worthwhile comparison at all, if it weren't for that gritty-soft voice moaning into his ear. With the voice, Shiro's in heaven.

The whimpers he's making now are heady, hoarse, strained. He just keeps gasping _ "please" _ every few thrusts.

"Want it harder, baby?"

_ "Yes! Yes," _ he gasps, clearly thrusting his own hips and fingers at a faster pace until Shiro can feel the moment he starts to come unglued. 

"I'm gonna make you come, baby," Shiro pants to the sound of that perfect voice spinning out of control. "Yes, fuck, come for me, K—"

Fuck.

"-Kira," Shiro pants a moment late. The man on the phone is too busy coming his eyes out to react. But his own climax feels distant, again, as his brain catches up to what his mouth almost did. He almost called the wrong name. The _right_ name, for the wrong person. But this isn't Keith. He let the real Keith pass him by. 

Akira pants on the other end of the line. _ "Fuck. That was... wild. I haven't come that hard in, well, I don't know," _the man laughs softly.

"I said I'd take care of you, baby," Shiro smiles tightly. He doesn't want this to end, and he'd almost fucked it up.

_"Huh,"_ Akira murmurs, sounding uncertain, _"You- you didn't come, did you?"_

How did he know? Did something in his voice give him away? It isn't a big deal at all, he doesn't need this to end like that to have the time of his life, but the last thing he wants is for this man to feel in any way disappointed or discouraged. He grasps for words to soothe and reassure. "I was focused on you. Making you feel so good."

_ "Okay, but I want to do that for you, too," _ the man sighs.

"You did! You do. I don’t need—"

_ "—I want to," _ he said firmly. Fuck, there were Akira's hard edges, his stubborn streak. This actor was just too good. Everything he loved about the character, he could pick up in his voice, just like how it was in the studio. Even his lopsided smile projected through his voice.

_ "On your back, babe. Gonna ride you," _ he purrs.

Shiro's head falls hard into the pillows as he moves quickly to comply. He can almost feel Keith climbing over him, parting his thighs over Shiro's hips, pressing his cock inside that slick, wet heat as Keith described what he wanted to feel. As the man moans, Shiro fucks up into his own fist as though it was Keith's well-fucked body hovering right there within his reach. 

_ "Kiss me, Ashi," _ he whines, and Shiro pants in response as his fist slides down over his cock in efficient strokes. _ "Fuck, you're perfect, and you're mine. I still can't believe it sometimes. After all these years. How- how can I be so lucky?" _

Shiro can't believe what he's hearing. His chest spasms with hope before he can quash it. But rather than a coherent reply, all he manages is a bit-off moan as he tumbles over the edge of a wild wave of pleasure. 

Akira knows it, hears it in his voice. _ "Please. Please, I need your come in me." _

Shiro's grunt of release feels so much better than he thought it could, imagining painting Keith's insides. Sighing deeply, he manages only a string of soft curses as he tries valiantly to catch his breath, his chest streaked with pearly white. 

_ "That good, huh?" _ There's a smirk in the man’s voice, and a pleased sleepiness. 

"Yes. You're incredible."

_ "Oh, uh," _ the man shies away from the compliment immediately. _ "Well thank you, tonight was really great—" _

"No, wait! Please don't hang up yet."

_ "Um. Okay?" _

"I- um- wanted to ask if you'd give me your number."

Silence.

_ "Why exactly?" _

Shiro's stomach lurches, but he tries hard not to sigh. He doesn't want him to feel pressured, that's for sure. This guy doesn't deserve that. 

"I'm sorry if that's too forward, it's just... wow. The times we've met up have been unbelievable. Hoped maybe you thought so too. I started to think I'd never find you on that site again, and I didn't want that. If we trade numbers then we could just... text to meet up. If you don't want that, though, I'll totally understand."

The next pause is long enough that Shiro assumes either the line is dead or he's scared him off. He closes his eyes. 

_ "Okay." _

"Okay?!"

The man laughs. _ "Yeah. Just please don't turn out to be a creep so I have to regret this. And- and I really just want the fan-fetish thing, if you can respect that." _

"I respect that. And I won't be a creep. If I mess something up, please just tell me and I'll fix it."

Shiro hears a ping on the chat and glances at his phone. 

**_akiraLovesYouBaby:_ ** GAI.BKT.LOQV

"What is that?"

_ "That's my number, dork," _ the man teases, the lilt of his humor going straight to Shiro's dick. God, he could get used to this. 

"Oh," he says with a smile. 

_ "Letters so the bots won't block it. You can't give out numbers, it'll cut the line off." _

"Geez, okay. Didn't know. Here, one sec," he pulls up the dialing pad on his phone to translate his number. It's harder than he thought it would be, and he definitely has to fight the urge not to spell CUM when the opportunity presents itself. 

"Wait, how do you write a zero?"

_ "Use O." _

"So O doesn't mean... the other digit it could mean?"

The man's laughter sounds free and easy, like a bell. _ "No, that's zero." _

"Okay, glad I checked. I don't wanna sext anyone's poor mother by accident."

**_Takashi_tonight:_ **FBE.AVM.OXNO

_ "True," _ the voice came back with a smile. _ "K, I got yours." _

"Great. Oh! And what should I call you?"

The silence is once again deafening. _ "Um, I think Akira is fine, if that's okay?" _ His voice sounds small, like he's nervous again. 

"Oh! Of course, of course. I just didn't want to be rude. Okay, then I'm still Takashi."

_ "Perfect." _

Shiro's heart swells as he types the man's number into his phone, saving a new contact.

"Okay, well. Goodnight, Akira."

_ "Sweet dreams, Takashi." _

+++


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Further inspired by attending a con for the first time last month and seeing Q&A with a cast panel. It really got my mind working over the dynamics between the actors, and fans asking sometimes wonderful and sometimes really invasive questions. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

+++

Keith stares at his phone in disbelief. He definitely hadn't gotten enough sleep, or had nearly enough coffee, to handle something like this. 

He inspects the number again, dialing each digit once more just to be sure. He looks suspiciously at the O's that _could _be sixes, except that they'd clarified that. And besides, Keith didn't really believe in that big a coincidence.

When he entered the last digit into his contacts, his phone once again helpfully supplied the name of an existing contact. Shiro. 

Real Shiro. 

Not the fantasy he'd concocted mere months after working together in the studio, the fantasy he'd clung to long after that gig ended and everyone moved on. Keith hadn't moved on.

Not the fantasy. This was reality.

He'd had phone sex with Shiro. Wild, raunchy, fetish sex. And to make matters far, far worse, it was the hottest sex he could remember ever having. As in, there was no going back, he was ruined for life.

Had he dropped a baby in a past life? Keith can't help but think he must’ve done something inexcusable to warrant being tortured like this. 

+

When Keith gets a sultry message on his masked phone line, it thankfully doesn't merge with his _we're-totally-just-normal-friends_ text stream with Shiro. He gets a notification from a whole different app, something discreet with no preview just in case.

Of course he didn't give out his real number—he's not a moron—but unluckily, Shiro might be one, and so the reveal here is one-sided. All the better to torture Keith for whatever wrongs he's unwittingly committed.

**"I keep thinking of all the things I want to do to you, baby."**

_Baby. _

Fuck.

Keith wants to bite, wants so fucking badly to type out a smutty reply, to pretend just one more time, but he can't. He has to tell Shiro it was actually him all along. 

Maybe just one more round...

No.

Well, he can't tell him like this. There's no way he can explain himself in a series of clumsy texts and too much silence. A voice call sounds both better and worse. At least in person, there's a chance Shiro will see how much Keith really is suffering over this and hear him out, that he'll see how very, truly sorry he is for having the worst luck in the galaxy. 

And as luck, or fate, or mean-spirited vengeance demons would have it, he'll get the opportunity in just three weeks. Beast King GoLion will be featured at the upcoming Emerald City Comic Con, including a big-time panel with the entire cast. They've been looking forward to it for weeks, making plans for their various appearances, maybe a little cosplay that last day, and agreeing that they all need to catch up more and make an effort more often. 

If only Keith wasn't about to scare him off for good.

He'll come clean then, after the panel. Bringing it up before seems like it would be an even worse disaster, knowing Shiro would be forced to pretend everything was just fine and professional between them even if he really wants to slam a door in his face. 

Yeah, after the panel is a better choice. 

**"When can we meet again?"** the next message reads.

Keith can survive three weeks in hell, can't he?

+

Their panel was headlining the whole con. Beast King GoLion was still an absolute fan favorite, and the paladin cosplayers seemed to have overrun the place. Keith takes a stroll through the Artist's Alley and finds so many Akira/Takashi ship fan arts that he secretly wants to buy but probably couldn't. Nothing fuels ship wars like the actors getting involved, and that’s not what he wants. And what would he do with all that, anyway? Best to keep it all on his hard drive in the folder he has nicknamed his trove of shame. 

He still hasn't confessed to Shiro, still rationalizing that he'd rather tell him in person, once their work is out of the way for the weekend. Besides, once the con starts there hardly seems to be time. He'll have to get him alone, find the right moment.

Keith feels his doom closing in. 

Preparing to walk out on stage gives him the same nervous twist in his stomach that it always does. Despite being an actor, Keith really is kind of shy. Too many people in one place just overwhelms him. Plus he's always worried he won't know the right thing to say to some question or other. 

Today the tension in his stomach comes with a side of giddy-but-terrified as he meets Shiro's eyes backstage. The man looks at him warmly, the smile so genuine it makes Keith's breath catch in his throat. What did he ever do to deserve being looked at like this? Guilt gnaws at Keith's insides as he pictures the look of betrayal on Shiro's face when he learns that he _knew_ and didn't fess up. He swallows hard. 

And then their names are called one by one to the sound of a roaring cheer. Keith finds himself seated beside Lance with Shiro being offered the last seat to his right. He's not surprised at the seating arrangement, given the two major ships the show sparked, and he definitely doesn't want any fan wars erupting here. Keith makes a point to grin at Lance who has always been a good friend in the business, knowing full well he'll struggle to keep his eyes from looking to Shiro for most of the next hour. 

The interviewer is an upbeat young woman with red hair, and Keith tries to remember if he met her before this. 

"Welcome, the full cast of Beast King GoLion! It is such a pleasure to sit with all of you today," she says enthusiastically. She's good at her job, warming them all up with pleasantries before moving to take the first question from the massive line that's formed at the center aisle mic.

Keith is paying attention, he really is. Everyone gets questions, and no small number of them are directed at Keith. About taking over as Black Paladin in the final season, and his space wolf, and what got him into the biz. There was even one sweet fan who remembered one of his earliest voicing gigs, which was unexpected and left him feeling warm. 

But every time Shiro speaks, Keith feels a thrill spark up his spine and he turns to watch him answer like a flower tracking the sun. Shiro is such a natural with people, whether big crowds or small gatherings where you’re supposed to _mingle_ (Keith shudders at the thought). Shiro was sort of the wild card of this group, a bit older than the rest of them and hadn't really had any major roles before GoLion. It was no wonder people were fascinated with his dark horse story, especially for someone who oozes charisma like he does.

Keith is fascinated by the movement of his full, sinful lips as Shiro offers stories or simply smiles at everyone in the most disarming way. 

It takes a beat longer than it should for Keith to realize he's being asked a question by a young man at the microphone.

"Keith, you've been outspoken about gay representation in popular media, and I just personally want to thank you for all that you've done to try and change hearts and minds. Like, you’re honestly one of my heroes, and some of the things you’ve said helped me get through a really dark time in my life,” the may smiles bashfully.

“Wow,” Keith says earnestly. “I’m glad something I said could help you.” 

“You definitely did. So, here’s my question for you: GoLion has some of the hottest M/M ships of any recent show, and you've never really spoken up about the ships. So my question is, do you ship anyone with Akira? Is it Akira/Isamu or Akira/Takashi for you, or anyone else?"

Keith thinks for a moment before responding.

"I think it's really important for me to be open to all of the ships, and respect that people have different preferences. I've always believed that people can't help who they love. It feels to me like it would be divisive and hurtful to say what I personally like and have that come off as official or twisted to say it’s more valid than the pairing that someone else holds in their heart. I just want everyone to love who they love. And, well, I do have my favorite," he smiles wryly, his pulse quickening at saying the words with Shiro seated right there beside him, "but I'm gonna take that detail to the grave, I'm sorry." His tease pulls a tittering groan-shaped cheer out of the crowd, but it warms into loud applause in response to what he'd said about respecting all the ships. 

Allura raises her voice next. "I just want to thank Keith and everyone else in this cast for being so mindful about the fandom, and wanting everyone to feel welcome here. I think you've really been an inspiration for all of us," she smiles at him as she lowers the mic to her lap.

Keith feels the blush run up to his ears, answering simply, "Thank you, Allura."

Keith steals a glance at Shiro and isn't prepared for the look he finds there. He's sure he can't describe it. Very fond, almost proud, but with heat behind it that Keith can't place. He watches Shiro try to school his expression and it kind of makes it worse. He almost looks devastated. Keith has to look away first.

Another question comes as soon as the last one is done. 

"Hi! My question is for Keith and Shiro. I'm, like, your biggest fan by the way. You play the two most passionate characters on the show, with more history together than any of the other paladins. I just have to ask, what's it like working together and voicing your two parts together?"

Keith's face feels hot, but he knows immediately what he wants to say.

"You know, when I met Shiro he was older than all of us but somehow more green," Keith smiled to himself at the memory, looking at the audience to avoid meeting Shiro's eyes. "I could see he was nervous being cast for this big-deal show, and I remembered what that was like my first time. I kind of had it in my head I'd reach out and try to help him feel more comfortable. But then it turned out he had the most disarming sense of humor, and the kindest personality, and honestly he didn't need any of my help. Everybody loved him immediately. Working with Shiro was a dream, honestly."

"But you did help," Shiro cuts in quietly, then louder as he addresses the room. "I was actually a fan of Keith's work before I got the part, so when it turned out he was a really great guy it helped to feel less intimidated on the set."

Keith looks at him in surprise. "I didn't know that."

"Well now you do," Shiro smiles, starting to blush. Then he looks at the interviewer somewhat pleadingly, hoping she'll move along to the next question. She does. 

"Keith and Shiro, the sparks between you two are out of this world! I mean, it's no wonder there are so many Akitashi shippers out here, am I right? Are there any real-life sparks happening there?"

Keith frowned and could see their interviewer's answering frown from the corner of his eye. It really wasn't an appropriate question. The interviewer moved to intercede, but Shiro beat her to it. 

"Keith is one of the most talented actors I've ever had the pleasure of working with," Shiro answered confidently with a smile, and though Keith couldn't bring himself to meet his eyes he felt a smile tug at his own lips. "And from questions like yours, I can see more of the ways that it shows. The friendship between our characters is a pivotal force in Akira's life, before either one ever flew a lion." Shiro steals a glance at Keith, who keeps his eyes on the crowd but is definitely smiling now, before he continues. "So if Keith wants you to feel all that intensity in every word, you'll feel it. The full weight of it, every time. I know I did."

His words pull Keith’s gaze helplessly to meet Shiro’s storm-gray eyes. He wants to ask him what he means, but this certainly isn’t the time. 

Blinking to recover his thoughts, Keith raises his microphone next, but Lance beats him to it. "I'm sorry to disappoint, folks, but I don't think any of us are the type to kiss and tell. Enjoy the ships, write about them and make art and respect the other ships, too. But yeah, let's respect what little privacy an actor can manage these days and leave it at that," Lance grins wickedly. 

Keith is really smiling now, loving Lance's wingman instincts. Speaking up just then would provide a perfect distraction, shifting focus from one rumored pairing to another. Keith would buy him a beer later. 

One or two more questions and the panel ends. They walk off-stage in good humor, laughing and griping about the nosy questions, and admiring the intricate cosplays that clearly fought their way to the front row. 

Keith catches Shiro's eye, but while he seemed so calm before he suddenly looks nervous. They fall a couple steps behind the others as they cross the skybridge to their hotel where they have a catered lunch waiting. 

"Everything okay?" Keith asks.

"I hope what I said was okay," Shiro murmurs, scratching his neck bashfully.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Keith blinks up at him, not understanding how his hesitation. “Shiro, you were amazing. I just sorta froze, and I was probably too irritated to respond kindly. Like, how would she feel in our shoes, being asked something like that? People really are the worst sometimes."

"Yeah, the worst and the best," Shiro smiles. "Okay, I just thought maybe it was... too much."

"Not at all. I liked it. I- I've never really known how to take a compliment, I guess, but it feels easy coming from you. I trust that you mean what you say."

Shiro meets his eyes then. “Of course I do. I really admire you, Keith.”

The words slide into his chest and make him ache. It’s everything that he wants to hear, and everything he can’t bear to hear while he’s burdened with that dark, dirty secret.

There’s no avoiding it; it has to come out today, or the damage can only be worse. Even now, he thinks it might be fatal, that their friendship will probably never recover from this, but Keith has to be brave. Shiro trusts him, and he owes him the truth. 

Keith has to think quickly about how to get some one-on-one time with him. Maybe they can even enjoy it, while it lasts. He clears his throat. 

“Hey so, after this lunch, wanna get out of here for a little while? I’ve never really seen Seattle, and, like, we didn’t get to celebrate your birthday last week.”

Shiro’s wide, puppy eyes are gonna kill him. “Keith, I’d love that! Yes! Just, you know, send me a signal when you’ve had enough and we’ll split.”

Keith makes a terrible attempt at a weird ear-pulling, finger wiggling ‘signal’ and grins. “Something like that?”

“Perfect.”

+

It’s a bit hard to check out Seattle in the constant rain and wind. Keith knows he’s a desert guy at heart, but usually he feels pretty adaptable. This is a shade too far.

Except that Shiro looks so happy in his neat rain jacket with a very practical hood, so maybe it’ll all be worth it. Of course it will, with Shiro. 

Until the inevitable betrayal. Keith gulps. 

Shiro eyes his umbrella and denim jacket a bit disapprovingly. “Okay, first stop: we’re getting you a proper rain coat.”

Keith bristles. “Why? We’re only here one more day,” he gripes, folding his arms in front of him.

“Well, it’s going to be a very long day when that umbrella turns inside-out in the wind and your denim soaks through in five minutes.” Keith glances outside. He had noticed the howling wind, of course, but didn’t see any way around it. So, maybe Shiro has a point. At least he’s wearing combat boots. 

“You sure you don’t want to just stay back in the hotel?” Keith mumbles.

“Hey, this was _your _idea, and I’m not giving up that easily,” Shiro teases. God, Keith missed this. Why can’t they spend time like this anymore? When he really thinks about it, there’s nothing really stopping them. They live in the same city, albeit not nearly neighbors.

“Alright, old man,” Keith jabs back, one corner of his mouth twitching upward. “Lead the way.”

+

Keith doesn’t want to pick out a raincoat that he doesn’t really want in the first place, so he lets Shiro pick one for him at the fancy sporting goods store that’s not far from the convention center downtown. 

As he swipes his card for the jacket, Keith realizes not only is he going to have this stupid red raincoat that is never going to be practical to wear back home in LA, but he’ll also never part with it so long as Shiro’s the one who picked it for him, even saying how good he looks in red.

It’s worth it in the end, and of course Shiro’s right—not that he’ll ever admit it. At least this way they won’t have to cut their wandering short on account of the endless rain. They take refuge for a couple hours in the Museum of Pop Culture, scouring the sci fi wing with the delight only two absolute nerds could share, before dashing through more rain to take the glass elevator up to the Space Needle’s observation deck. The view is, to be frank, utterly pointless in this weather, but it doesn’t matter so long as he’s with Shiro. 

They get to Pike Place Market just in time for all the shops to be closed and for the sun to set over the Sound, which isn’t much of a sight either given the dense cloud cover and intensely driving rain. They find themselves huddling under the wide awning of a shuttered shop, socked-in, soaked and laughing until they’re breathless. 

Knocking off the hood, Keith combs his fingers through his bangs, squeezing rain from them before they drop listlessly back in his eyes. His hair is always impossible. When he looks up, Shiro is leaning against the building looking his way.

“I miss this. I miss... us.”

Keith gulps at the honesty in his voice. “Y- yeah. I do too, Shiro,” he says, coming to lean beside him against the wall.

“Really, you do?” Keith only nods in response, so Shiro continues. “Why don’t we spend time like this in LA? I mean, I don’t care if you’re all the way across town. I’d come to you, just to hang out. We could do nothing and it’d be worth the trip,” Shiro grins enthusiastically. 

Keith’s smile is small and private and aching as he looks away. He wants this, and the guilt is killing him. 

“I know, sorry. I’m so bad at keeping in touch. Child actor, you know?” Keith huffs a nervous laugh. “Like, I never really figured out the whole making friends thing. It’s not that I don’t want to.”

It’s a thin-sounding excuse, even if it’s mostly true. As if it wasn’t glaring him in the face that instead of reaching out to someone who wanted to be friends like a normal fucking person, Keith spent his time acting out his desires with anonymous strangers on the internet. And _not-so-strangers,_ _maybe-almost-friends,_ who- what, exactly? Share the same fantasies as he does? If only Keith could figure out, somehow, if it’s just the characters that drew Shiro to that site, or if it’s _them _like it is for Keith. That'd be too good to be true.

Shiro tilts his head like he’s trying to solve a puzzle. “Well, I’m no shining example of friendship through the ages, but I know I want you in my life. If you want that.”

Keith feels his jaw hang a bit slack before he manages to close it. In the end he takes too long to reply, and Shiro quickly becomes a flustered mess.

“Wow, I’m sorry if I made that weird. I- I do that, I just think you’re great. And it always seems like you don’t see that, so... I just wanted you to know.”

“Shiro, wait, it- it’s okay. You’re too kind to me, really. I just,” Keith bites his lip, “there’s something I have to talk to you about. And, fuck,” he turns his shoulders away for a moment, winds up turning in a whole, awkward circle before facing Shiro again from a step further away. “I just… really don’t want to have this conversation.” He glances up at Shiro past his wet bangs, his heart thrumming irregularly.

Shiro frowns a little, and Keith finds himself aching to close the distance between them just to smooth away the crease in his brow with his fingertips, but he can’t do that. He doesn’t have the right.

“Something about me?”

Keith winces a little. “Yeah, sort of.”

Shiro looks as heartbroken as he is confused, and it makes Keith die a little inside. “Keith... Did I do something wrong? Whatever it is, you can tell me. I promise, I’ll listen to you. I don’t know what—”

And then he froze. 

Keith could practically hear his gears grinding to a halt. 

“No, Shiro, no, it- it’s me, okay? I’m the one who fucked up. I never meant—”

“—That was you?"

"Yes," Keith croaks. He can't manage anything more.

“But it wasn’t your phone number,” Shiro says through a haze, clearly in some kind of shock.

Fuck. “I know, but I- I wasn’t about to give a total stranger my real number. Lots of people have that number, my _agent _has that number, and besides the last thing I need is a stalker with a fetish for my voice.” Keith's voice was coming out a lot higher than it should be, and it took an extra moment to process what he’d just said. Shiro was shrinking in on himself right before his eyes. 

“No, no, that came out wrong. I don’t mean that about you. I didn’t know it _was _you! I just… You could have been anyone, and I have an app so I can use an unlisted number. You know, for safety.”

Shiro nods, seeming to find that reasonable if he was even still hearing his words, but his expression is guarded, wary. Mortified, betrayed, the look is every bit as bad as Keith feared. He can’t handle it.

“Please don’t look at me like that, Shiro. I- I know you’re probably disgusted with me right now, but I just want to- apologize and- see if you can forgive me for- for hurting you. I’m an idiot, definitely, but I swear I never once believed it was really you, not until I tried to put your number in my phone.”

Shiro’s head jerks up, capturing Keith’s eyes. That worried crease is there again, his eyes sharp and scrutinizing. “Wh- wait, what? Why are you apologizing? I was clearly on the same site you were, Keith. You’re no more guilty here than I am.”

Keith's jaw drops open. He doesn't get it?

“Three weeks, Shiro. I was such a chicken shit, I couldn’t tell you the truth for three weeks. And what you said was so sexy. And then you sounded worried, and then just… disappointed. It was awful, and I didn’t do shit.”

Shiro frowns again. “So wait, was it a fake number or not? You mean you got my messages?”

Keith winces again. “It wasn’t a fake, it was… a screen, I guess. I got your messages. I wanted to write you back, but by then I already knew it was you and I just… couldn’t. I panicked.”

“Okay,” Shiro blinks, fidgeting with his hands absentmindedly. His hands fall still. “Well, I do wish you’d written back, even just to say you’re not interested. I just assumed I'd been ghosted, and that, well. It didn’t feel good, even though I understood perfectly well that this mystery man didn't owe me a thing.”

What in the seven hells is he even saying?

"I hope you know I would’ve been a good sport about the rejection, especially once you… knew who I really was. I said I respect your boundaries and I meant it, even without knowing it was you."

Keith stares at him, disbelieving. “No- I- fuck,” he sighs, studying his feet. “What a fucking mess. I couldn’t say _no,”_ he chokes back a miserable sound that’s trying to crawl out of his chest, “because all I wanted was to say _yes._ But I couldn’t- wouldn’t do that to you.”

Now Shiro is slack-jawed and staring. It makes Keith's insides writhe uncomfortably and he just wants to run.

"You wanted to say _yes,"_ Shiro’s voice almost sounds like a laugh, a sort of manic, giddy sound. Definitely shock, Keith decides.

“Of course I do,” Keith groans, turning away. He’s retreated as far as he can from Shiro without fleeing into the night. From here he can feel the mist of the rain drift toward his face, slowly clinging to his eyelashes. 

Keith’s eyes lock onto the dark edge of the horizon under a murky, deep blue sky, the red lights of the Pike Place Market sign illuminating the wet asphalt below with a eerie glow. He keeps his eyes there just to hold onto his courage for one more minute. He owes Shiro the whole truth. Maybe he’ll understand, maybe he won’t, but he can’t live with this feeling.

“Keith—”

“Please let me finish, I- I don’t think I’ll ever manage this again.”

After a beat, he hears Shiro’s voice, quiet and vulnerable. “I’m listening.”

Keith sighs and wills his voice not to shake. “I think about those early days of the show, recording the first few seasons, and it’s all a blur for me except… except all the things I remember about you. Insignificant things you did or said, quiet moments where you were just so kind, the way your eyes lit up when we’d record our scenes, and I just- I fell for you so hard. The last thing I ever wanted to do was make things weird. You deserve better than that. So I pushed down all the looks I thought you were giving me and the urge to ask for more, and told myself it was all a fantasy.”

“So the thing is, I don’t regret what happened, Shiro. Maybe I should, but I just _can’t._ Hearing your voice wrecked like that, wrecking _me _like that, it just- fuck, is it sad that the best sex I’ve had in my whole life was an anon hookup over the phone?”

His own laugh sounds harsh to his ears, mirthless and hollow, but he can’t hide how much this hurts. Just when he finally gets what he wants, he has to watch it crumble. He has to be the one to smash it at his feet.

He hears Shiro walk up behind him and resists the urge to pull away, to flee. He feels Shiro’s hand settle on his upper back—not the safe zone of the shoulder where he usually touches him, but along his spine. It’s warmer, more intimate. It makes Keith bold.

“But then it wasn’t anon, and it wasn’t a hookup, it never was. I knew who I wanted and I could just close my eyes and let it be the real you. Being taken by you, by your voice, was the sweetest, guiltiest pleasure. I wouldn’t take it back if I could. My only regret is hurting you. I know you probably never want to hear from me again, but I just want you to know that I only ever tried to be someone you'd want as a friend.”

Keith feels the threat of tears prickle his eyes, his vision swimming just a little. He swallows it back. 

Shiro’s hand slides soothingly down to the small of his back. It feels incredible and awful at once. What, is Shiro comforting _him,_ after what he did? He doesn’t deserve this man, he never did. 

Keith hangs his head, muttering, “I should go,” before trying to duck into the rain.

“Wait,” Shiro pulls him back, his hand arriving warm and heavy in the familiar place on his shoulder. “Keith, will you look at me, please?” 

He will not. He can’t. 

“I’m crazy about you, Keith.”

His eyes snap up at that. “You- what?”

Shiro breathes a helpless little laugh. “I’m completely crazy about you. I wanted to ask you out back then, and I just never got up the nerve. I meant all the things I said, and there's so much more I couldn't say. You’re more amazing than you know.”

Keith just gapes, open-mouthed.

“And I don’t regret what happened either! I was just, I don’t know... mortified, I guess. I never saw that coming, not in a million years. And I couldn’t imagine what you thought of me once you realized _I _said those things to you, about _you._ Yes you’re beautiful, your voice is beautiful, but it wasn’t just some fetish—it never was. It was regret, if anything. I’d had this shot at getting to know you, at getting close to the real you, and I’d blown it.”

Keith feels his brain coming back online, and all he can process from everything Shiro is saying is that it was _him,_ not Akira, that he was fucking into the mattress in his imagination. 

“It was about me? Not just Akira?”

Shiro blinks. “Definitely you. I, um, guess you didn’t catch when I almost said your name?” Shiro worries his lip.

A thrill shoots through Keith at that. “Fuck, that was real? I was sure I’d only imagined—”

“I caught myself and called you ‘Kira instead,” Shiro blushes furiously behind the hand he brings up to shield his face.

Keith steps closer, closer than he’s ever stood to Shiro, reaching up with one hand to pull Shiro’s hand away in his. “Please don’t hide from me,” he says softly while meeting Shiro’s eyes. “Not anymore.”

Shiro’s lips part in surprise, forming a tiny o.

Then he’s standing as tall as he can, and Shiro’s dipping his head to bring their lips together softly, tenderly. It’s hardly a press of lips but they’re both already breathless, before their lips tangle for a longer, deeper kiss. Keith pulls away panting, dipping his head to Shiro’s collarbone even as their arms come up to steady each other.

“I still can’t believe that was you,” Keith murmurs, his voice low. “Even if your voice was too perfect, and it felt like how I thought you should feel, it still seems impossible.”

“I know what you mean.”

“We’re idiots,” Keith says tonelessly.

“Yeah, we are,” Shiro replies, his laugh airy and light as it vibrates through him. 

Keith grips him tighter. “When I thought I heard you bite off my name, it destroyed me. I came so hard, Shiro. And—oh shit, is that why you stopped all of a sudden?”

“Well, obviously I panicked!"

Keith chuckles as he feels Shiro’s chest shake with laughter. It makes his heart so warm, feeling this, daring to hope he can have _this_ for real.

+++


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot-What-Plot? Have a nice lemon, enjoy...... ;)

+++

Shiro hasn't come down at all from Keith's confession. It feels too good to be true, but he can't shake the warmth that's seeped into his chest despite being pretty well soaked, and the relentless grin is here to stay.

Keith _wants_ him.

This can be... real?

They take a Lyft back to the hotel from the shuttered market, unable to keep their hands and mouths off of each other in the semi-darkness of the back seat. The driver is forgiving and just turns the music up a bit to give them some privacy.

Hoods up like a half-hearted disguise, they stride quickly to the elevators, grateful there's no one else inside the car that opens for them. Shiro presses Keith back against the mirrored side of the elevator. He meant the kiss to be sweet, full of all the fondness he's feeling, but he's feeling a lot of things at once. He ends up licking into his mouth hungrily as the lift quietly chimes at each floor until they reach the top level. They leave puddles wherever they go. Keith leads the way to his room, pulling Shiro by the hand behind him. Shiro goes willingly. 

Very willingly. 

As the door swings closed, Shiro feels nerves prickle his stomach. This is their first time, and it isn’t. What if it doesn’t live up to expectations? He looks up at Keith in the low light of the bedside lamp and all those thoughts evaporate.

Keith is closer to the bed, looking back at him with soft eyes. There’s a question in his gaze, and Shiro can read it instantly because it’s the same one he has. 

_Do you still want this— still want me? _

Shiro goes to him on instinct, two hands cupping Keith’s face as their lips slide together. He lets a small moan escape his mouth at the taste of Keith’s tongue and the flutter of his pulse under his little finger.

“Want you so bad, Keith,” he whispers. Keith groans hoarsely in response. “Can I get you out of these soaked clothes?”

"Definitely."

Shiro slides Keith’s layered jackets from his shoulders, his own raincoat falling to the floor a moment later. He kicks off his rain boots before he eyes Keith’s combat boots, laced halfway up his calf. He kneels without thinking, pulling quickly at the laces, before instinct again hits him full in the face; he looks up through his lashes to meet Keith’s eyes, dizzy with the knowledge that his nose is now inches from Keith’s cock which is decidedly straining his jeans.

The look in Keith’s eyes is devastating, fingers already sliding into his hair like he might if he were fucking into his mouth. The need to suck Keith's cock hits him like a physical blow, but they’re both still wearing soaked-through jeans so he tries to keep it together for a few moments more. Instead, Shiro nuzzles his face against the hollow of Keith’s hip while he finishes loosening his boots. Keith seems to radiate heat; never mind that the denim is stiff and wet, it's far from cold where it drags against his cheek. Keith whimpers at the tease, Shiro’s face so close to the mark and yet so far.

Locking eyes, Shiro stays on his knees while he unfastens Keith’s belt and his fly, fingers delicately brushing the bulge that is driving him crazy. Keith's eyes are deep and dark and desperate. Black jeans are peeled roughly to his ankles, kicked away before Shiro can manage to help, as his mouth waters at the scent of the man he holds in his hands. He traces the shape of him with his nose through the thin boxer briefs that leave nothing to the imagination. The slightest contact makes Keith tremble. 

"I want you in my mouth, Keith," Shiro says simply, and Keith understands it's an ask as much as a demand. 

“Fuck- yes," he gasps back. 

Sliding the waistband down, Shiro hears the rumble in his own throat as he gets a first look at Keith's flushed cock, uncut and nicely curved, with a bead of precum just sliding from the slit. He's lapping it up before he finishes thinking the thought, sliding his hand up the shaft and pulling the foreskin back down to expose him fully. Keith is already making senseless sounds that liquify the rest of Shiro's brain cells. The feel of Keith's cock sliding over his tongue is only making him hungrier.

"Oh- oh god, fuck- your mouth, nnnah!"

Shiro wants to smile, feels joy pulling at his lips even as they stretch around Keith's considerable girth. He takes him fully in his throat, shuddering at how good that feels as he bobs his head, the hem of Keith's tee tickling his nose.

He almost misses that Keith is shaking on his feet, knees about to buckle. 

Shiro moves so fast it's a blur, sliding off, standing and holding Keith against him, shifting him effortlessly a couple of steps until he's tumbling onto the bed with Keith underneath him. Keith gasps a bit in shock like he's been doused with water. 

"Shiro, your clothes are freezing," Keith gasps out with a bark of heady laughter.

Oh. "Fuck, sorry," Shiro winces, pulling away for the mere moments it takes for him to shed all of his clothes. When he looks at Keith again, he's gone totally still, his eyes wide. Shiro hesitates.

"Everything okay?" He asks softly.

Keith blinks. "Wow, you're... wow. Gorgeous, Shiro. How are you even real?"

Shiro feels the blush crawl up his neck and just shakes his head softly as he crawls back over him, pulling Keith's tee off over his head. "You're one to talk, baby," he murmurs as he slides into Keith's arms.

He feels Keith arch up into him, a delicious glide of skin on skin that he just knows is going to ruin him for life, but what actually undoes him is Keith's smokey voice at his ear, groaning “say it again—"

Shiro's mind is blank. He doesn't know what he said, but he'll do whatever Keith wants him to do. Anything.

"What's that, baby?"

Keith shudders and arches again, straining against Shiro's hips. "That, just that," he pants.

_Baby._

Shiro feels dizzy.

It’s so easy with Keith. Every move he makes, every word and sound sets them both on fire. Shiro is suckling at his nipple when Keith’s hand fists in his hair and lightly tugs. It makes his dick jump with a jolt where he’s pressed against the sheets.

He must have made a good sound, too, because Keith hums approvingly. “You like hair pulling.” It's a statement, not a question. 

Shiro doesn’t deny it. He does return to devouring Keith’s pretty mouth, taking full advantage; he slides his own fingers into the hair at the nape of Keith’s neck, slowly tightening his grip. “Do you?”

“Yeah,” Keith moans, “guilty." Then he bites his lip on a thought he doesn't share. 

"Tell me."

"You know, depraved fantasies I've held onto for years," Keith squirms. Shiro is about to use his puppy eyes to try and get the details, but Keith continues after seeming to steel his nerves. "Like- you pulling my hair while you're fucking my mouth."

Shiro shivers with pleasure. “You’d look so pretty on your knees,” he praises. 

That’s all Keith needs to hear. He’s rolling Shiro on his side with surprising strength, scooting to the edge of the bed and then standing there with _come hither_ eyes. Shiro sits up to follow him to the edge.

When Keith drops to his knees without breaking eye contact, Shiro has one long moment to bask in awe of being here, being raw and naked and vulnerable with the man he's wanted more than anyone else in his life. Keith wants _him_, wants _this_, as much as he does. His eyes tell him so, glassy and gleaming darkly like nebulae.

Then Keith lets his gaze caress Shiro's cock and heat rises to the tips of his ears. He knows he's hung, guys he's dated always remark on it, but he's honestly a bit shy about it. Not everyone sees it as a blessing. He's a mouthful and a half, and maybe Keith's second-guessing his choice of activity. He should let him know it's okay, no expectations—

Keith is suddenly lathing up his shift with broad, wet strokes of his tongue, eyes finding Shiro's again and holding them as he circles the tip. Shiro moans, gripping the mattress on either side of him. It's sinful how gorgeous he is, peering up at him past dark eyelashes and weather-whipped bangs. He's perfectly disheveled, looking like they've gone a few rounds already, and the thought sears through him as surely as Keith's deft tongue does. 

Between slender, sure fingers and his greedy tongue, Shiro starts to process that he's good at this—like, really fucking good. Experienced, certainly. He realizes this while he's sliding heavily against the flat of Keith's tongue with his mouth held wide open for Shiro to see everything. Far from vexing him, Shiro finds the idea of Keith having lots of adventurous, satisfying sex to be incredibly, terribly hot.

He's not sure if the thought makes him more or less prepared for the moment when Keith stops warming him up and instead swallows him whole. As his cock presses into the even tighter heat of his throat, Keith hums in ecstasy. The vibration on top of everything else is about all Shiro can handle. Then Keith starts to move and Shiro keens sharply like he's losing his mind.

Keith's mouth pulls off with a dirty pop, then he's looking at Shiro with absolute adoration. "Do you wanna pull my hair?"

Shiro pants. "You're gonna finish me in no time if you do any more of that," he admits. "I- I wanna take care of you, too."

A smile pulls at the corner of his mouth as his hands smooth over the tops of Shiro's thighs. "You are, just like this. Only, do you think you could..." Keith trails off, blushing furiously. 

"What?"

Keith blinks, his throat bobbing as he swallows. "Talk dirty to me?"

Oh hell.

It punches a groan from Shiro's lungs even as his cock is suddenly on fire. "You like it that much?"

"With you?" Keith breathes a laugh. "More than you know."

Shiro feels a small smile pulling at his lips, joy and awe and such tenderness waring for his attention. It's almost enough to make him forget what they were doing. _Almost._

Keith wants him to fuck his mouth.

Keith wants him pulling his hair. 

Keith wants him saying all those dirty things he's thought and never once imagined he'd get to say, while he's on his knees for him.

Keith wants... _him._ He wants _this._

Shiro's fingers are carding through Keith's hair, kneading his scalp, and if Keith could purr it seems like he would as he leans into the touch, eyes fluttering shut. Shiro licks his lips.

"You want me to tell you all the filthy things I think about doing to you?"

Keith keens as his gaze whips up to meet Shiro's, his eyes impossibly dark. He nods quickly. 

Shiro slowly fists his hand in Keith's hair, tilting Keith's head just enough to feel Keith let go of control. "You want to hear how pretty you look like this, on your knees for me?"

"I- I like praise," Keith gasps out quietly. 

Shiro sees stars.

He can't deny that his cock literally jumped at that, and suddenly Keith's gaze leaves his face, looking at his cock like a meal. Shiro lets Keith drift there, feels one of his hands griping his balls and the base of his shaft.

"Well that's easy, baby," Shiro murmurs, "You're so good. Unbelievably good."

He feels Keith's tongue again for only a moment, his heart racing, before the warmth of Keith's mouth engulfs him.

"AH-" Shiro gasps, eyes fluttering as he tries to adjust to the impossible pleasure of being in Keith's mouth. It's in vain; he's already panting again, nearly as wrecked as if they'd never paused at all.

"Fuck, fuck- Keith," Shiro pants, "your mouth, it's heaven—"

As Keith bobs his head, Shiro lets his hands pull with each thrust. Gently at first, then more and more as Keith's muffled moans give him confidence that he's loving the feeling of Shiro's cock driving deeper and deeper into his throat. He tightens his grip in Keith's hair until he hears the man keen, sending a shiver through his whole body. 

"I used to stare- at your mouth- at work- wanted to taste your tongue," Shiro lets the words fall from his mouth exactly as he thinks them, no capacity left to polish or filter. And it's okay, right? How he missed it before, he's not sure, because Keith is really good at showing him what he wants. Shiro knows right then he'll always give it to him. 

"I wanted this- I wanted to- have you- against the wall- wanted to make you moan, just for me—"

Keith whimpers and it's heaven, cut off as it is by his mouthful of cock. Shiro needs to hear him, suddenly needs Keith's words. He pulls him off a bit roughly, gripping his head with both hands.

"Do you want to moan for me, baby?"

Keith blinks up at him, eyes watering, and the needy, fucked-out look on his face can't completely mask when a smile tries to play at his lips. Keith is nodding, groaning, "Fuck, yes, Shiro, I want it!"

"Good boy."

Shiro brings Keith's lips back to his cockhead, where Keith licks at the tip worshipfully, moaning again. When he goes down next, Shiro feels the last of his control slipping away.

"Keith! Keith- want my tongue in your ass- fuck, I wanna taste you- want the smell of you everywhere—"

The wet, sinful sounds of Keith's mouth sucking him down mingle with chocked-off moans of Keith's pleasure. Fuck, he likes this. He really wants this, wants all of it.

"Wanna hear you lose your mind, baby- make you scream as I fuck you so deep- fuck- FUCK—"

Keith's nails stab into the meat of Shiro's thighs as he holds on for dear life, burying his nose in the hair at the base of Shiro's cock. Shiro's coming hard down his throat and tries to pull back, tries to give the man space to breathe, but Keith isn't having any of it. Keith holds him inside and then gags hard, shooting fire through Shiro's nerves as his throat convulses around him. 

"Keith! Baby, are you okay?" Shiro can hear the worry in his voice. Keith slides off and manages to swallow before he has the cough. He can't yet answer but Shiro can see that he's smiling. There are heavy tears in his eyes, streaking his face, he's wobbling and a mess- the most beautiful, thoroughly fucked mess that Shiro's ever seen. 

"God, baby, you're the most incredible- there are no words," Shiro pants. "Come here," he reaches to scoop Keith up off his knees. Keith melts into his arms, and it isn't until Shiro's hugging him against his chest and sliding him into the bed that he registers something wet and cooling between them.

"Keith-?" his voice questions, but he knows. He just doesn't know _how._ Keith's hands were on him the whole time, he's sure of it. But he can't deny what's right in front of him, sliding his fingers through pearly white that's painting Keith's abs and smeared between them.

"How did you—"

"Told you," Keith rasps, his voice like gravel, "said you were taking care of me. Was pretty sure I could come like that, if- if you'd keep talking to me and making me take your cock."

Shiro breathes a laugh that's also a sigh.

"You'll be the end of me, I just know it."

"No endings," Keith murmurs, his voice gone serious and soft. "Beginnings," he kisses the corner of Shiro's mouth, "and plenty of them."

Shiro's tongue is suddenly dry. There's too much that he wants to say, too much love in his heart for this gorgeous, courageous, gentle man, and it all wants to spill over at once. But it's just like Keith said; this is a beginning, only a start. They'll have time- time for saying all the things that he feels as he tumbles into Keith's midnight eyes. Time for growing closer, for mundane things that Shiro thinks will always feel brighter with Keith by his side. Time he never thought he'd have. 

Keith's right, of course. This is just the beginning. Now that he's held him, tasted him, he'll do everything to hang on.

Shiro's not above playing dirty.

He shifts his hips against Keith's in a slow, playful grind. "Does that mean you're ready for round two?" he asks with a dorky eye waggle that honestly didn't even attempt to look sly.

Keith blinks up at him, blood rushing. "Wow. You're- so embarrassing," he coughs, making Shiro's cheeks burn even while his smile pulls so hard it aches. "And the answer- is yes."

His kiss is so thorough, Shiro forgets the next tease he had planned. It doesn't really matter, so long as they have this.

He'll forever be chasing those lips.

+++

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://bioplast-hero.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/bioplast_hero).
> 
> I live and breathe your comments, thank you for them! ♥️


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